December 2004

In this

December 2004 No. 440 $4.00

issue Mutual UFO Network

JOUR Crop circle effects on individuals studied, p. 3. Alaskan encounter, p. 7.

MUFONForum,p.8.

Wishing you

UFO Press, p. 10. South Carolina UFO, p. 11. New human species found, p. 12. Whitley Strieber: What really matters, p. 18. Michigan priest an ET?,p.21. Calendar, p. 22. UFO Marketplace, p. 23.

Columns Director's Message 2 Filer's Files 13 Stan Friedman 16 McLeod's Night Sky 24

Jfappy

December 2004

Number 440

MUFON UFOJournal (USPS 002-970) (ISSN 0270-6822)

Mutual UFO Network Post Office Box 369 Morrison, CO 80465-0369 Tel: 303-932-7709 Fax: 303-932-9279

International Director John F. Schuessler, M.S. Editor: Dwight Connelly, M.S. • 14026 Ridgelawn Road Martinsville, IL 62442 Tel: (217) 382-4502 [email protected]

Advertising Director: John F. Schuessler, M.S. Columnists: Gavin A. J. McLeod George Filer, M.B.A. Jenny Randies Stanton Friedman, M.S.

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Director's Message By John F. Schuessler Holiday Greetings 2004 has been an exciting year for MUFON, and that is because of all the wonderful people working together to solve the UFO mystery. It is not an easy job, but all of you, the members and supporters of MUFON, have done great things. Sightings have increased, and you have responded by stepping up the investigations of these new j0hn Schuessler cases. Many have contributed to the pages of the MUFON UFO Journal, others have participated in the annual MUFON International UFO symposium, while others have supplied the results of their UFO research. Many have passed their best wishes and offers of support on to MUFON headquarters. We appreciate all this and more. We wish you all a happy and pros-

perous holiday season and our best regards for the new year.

2005 International UFO Symposium

The 36th annual MUFON International UFO Symposium will be held on Friday, July 22, through Sunday, July 24, 2005, at the Marriott Tech Center Hotel in Denver. CO. The hotel is located about one mile south of where the 2004 symposium was held. The Marriott Tech Center is a worldclass hotel in a tech campus setting, and the rooms are again priced at $65 per night. A limited number of rooms will also be available at that price starting on Wednesday for anyone wanting to arrive early for vacation fun. Mark your calendars now, and we will see you in Denver. Special Donors Needed MUFON has identified more than two dozen special projects that would ben(Continued on page 22)

Change of address and subscription/extra copies inquiries should be sent to MUFON, P.O. Box 369, Morrison, CO 80465-0369. Copyright 2004 by the Mutual UFO Network. All Rights Reserved No part of this document may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the Copyright Owners, Permission is hereby granted to quote up to 200 words of any one article, provided the author is credited, and the statement, "Copyright 2004 by the Mutual UFO Network, P.O. Box 369, Morrison, CO 804650369" is included. The contents of the MUFON UFO Journal are determined by the editor, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Mutual UFO Network. Opinions expressed are solely those of the individual authors and columnists, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editor or staff of MUFON. The Mutual UFO Network, Inc. is exempt from Federal Income Tax under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. MUFON is a publicly supported organization of the type described in Section 509 (a) (2). Donors may deduct contributions from their Federal Income Tax. Bequests, legacies, devises, transfers, or gifts are also deductible for estate and gift purposes, provided they meet the applicable provisions of Sections 2055, 2106, and 2522 of the Internal Revenue Code. MUFON is a Texas nonprofit corporation. The MUFON UFO Journal is published monthly by the Mutual UFO Network, Inc., Morrison, CO. Second Class postage paid at Versailles, MO. Individual Membership: $45/year U.S., $55 outside the U.S. Family members: $10 per person additional Student (18 years and under): $35 U.S. and $45 outside the U.S. Donor: $100/year. Professional: $250/year. Patron: $500/year Benefactor (Lifetime Member): $1,000 First class Journal delivery (in envelopes) U.S. and Canada only: $12/year additional Air Mail Journal delivery to all other countries outside the United States: S35/year additional Postmaster- Send form 3579 to advise change of address to- MUFON UFO Journal, PO Box 369, Morrison, CO 80465-0369

MUFON's mission is the scientific study of UFOs for the benefit of humanity through investigation, research, & education.

UK researchers

Crop circles effects on individuals studied ByLucyPringle Editor's Note: While many crop circle researchers are concentrating on the physical effects on the plants (elongated or blown nodes, etc.) and the soil within and around the circles, the UK's Lucy Pringle is focusing on the possible effects of the circles on people who enter them. Interestingly, even some of those who emphasize plant and soil research, such as Nancy Talbott, have reported apparent physical and emotional effects from entering some of the circles. Results of Pringle's studies are not yet compiled for the 2004 UK season, but she and her colleagues have compiled studies of the 2003 season. Extensive charts have been developed which may be viewed on Ms. Pringle's website, http:// home.darajiet/lucypringle. The Ogbourne St. Techniques for measuring effects on individuals are constantly being evaluated and modified, and it is difLong-time researcher Christopher ficult to determine the extent to Weeks and I visited the formation on June which psychological effects cause 17, two days after its arrival. The farmer some of the reported and measured was loath to allow many people into the physical effects. formation, as he did not wish his privacy invaded nor his field damaged. The appearance on June 15,2003, of I drove my car as far as I could, and the glorious Ogbourne St George forma- then the farmer kindly took us in his 4tion that appeared two miles from any wheel drive the rest of the way, bumphabitation ushered in the season for me. ing over deeply rutted terrain. For huIts complex series of crescents spi- mans to carry their equipment and walk raled outwards in increasing size from a over such an inaccessibly arduous and central circle, nestling snuggly beneath pitted tract of land seemed unlikely. the Ridgeway in Wiltshire far from the We examined the formation in miprying eyes of man. nutely close detail, and at the end of an The Ridgeway is Britain's oldest road, hour could find no evidence of human which during its 85-mile (137km) jour- involvement. ney passes many other historic sites as The stalks were not crushed or broit winds it way through Wiltshire, ken, and the gray bloom that gives this Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Hertford- early crop its bluish look was still present. shire, starting at Avebury in Wiltshire and There was no evidence of pole or other ending its peregrinations at Ivanhoe Bea- marks. con in Hertfordshire. The scene was unbelievably peaceDECEMBER 2004

MUFON UFO JOURNAL

George formation. ful; early summer at its best. Despite the circle being only 48 hours old, the young green wheat had clearly been only lightly kissed and was rising up fast. Before entering the circle we buried two pairs of bottles as control samples, and buried a series of pairs of bottles inside. Towards the end of this exercise, Christopher suddenly asked how many more bottles were to be buried, "Only one more set," I replied. "Thank goodness for that," said Christopher, "then I am getting out." I had not mentioned that I had also been feeling far from well for some time after entering the circle. A feeling of vague nausea, disorientation, headache, and just generally yuk. But our scientific research had to come first. As we walked back to my car we discussed our symptoms, which were then fast disappearing. We decided that the vortical energy of the circle had been

increased by a possible rebound of vortical energy from the steep banks of the Ridgeway, doubling the natural effect. By the time we reached my car, we were fully recovered. However, within 48 hours Christopher developed severe gout. This is not the first time it has happened to him after visiting crop circles. His gout recovered, we returned a week later to collect the bottles. Within 48 hours Christopher developed gout once more. Causes of gout We know that gout occurs as a result of uric crystals collecting around joints, causing painful inflammation. It is sometimes thought that an abundance of rich food and red wine or port can be the cause. Christopher does not drink wine and eats well, mainly organic foods. Three other people who visited the formation all felt extremely thirsty as they left. Instead of drinking the water.they had brought with them, they all craved red wine. Two of them had forgotten this effect when they revisited the formation at a later date. Unexpectedly, this effect was repeated. They are naturally moderate red wine drinkers, but this compulsion was something different. Could there be a chemical constituent that is common to both red wine and the cause of gout? Relating to red wine reports, it has been suggested to me that the exogenous stimulus was a "kick" to the reward centers of the brain, rather than a subconscious seeking of an ingredient. The next question is the energy input. Eddy currents are now coming to the fore in physics when magnetic fields traverse the brain. Several years ago a young man sent me a report telling me that despite feeling slightly nauseous while inside a formation, he had desperately craved chocolate. Many people suffer from this condition. We are told that whereas chocolate craving is often linked to eating disorders, there are other possible reasons. The main active ingredient of chocolate is cocoa, a significant source of the stimulant theobromine, which is a known

Peter and Isabel measure Chris in the formation. mood elevator. In tests it has been shown that alcohol-loving rats, given the choice will actually replace their alcohol intake in preference for chocolate. By doing this the rats increase their level of dopamine, as chocolate appears to stimulate its production. A study of rats shows that dopamine kick-starts a brain messenger chemical called DARPP-32, which in rum activates hormones that make females interested in sex, hence Valentine Day chocolates. Researchers at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego have also discovered that novel constituents in cocoa powder and chocolate are chemical cousins of anandamide, which binds to the same brain receptor sites as marijuana. Chocolate and maryuana This means that chocolate chemicals may activate receptors for marijuana and thus mimic its psychoactive effects of heightened sensations and euphoria. What are the reasons for these strange cravings? Is there a dopamine link between chocolate and red wine? What about gout? When dealing with complex subtle energies, their effects on areas of the brain are still to be thoroughly understood. We took seed samples from the center and perimeter of this formation, plus

MUFON UFO Journal

control samples from some distance outside. These were sent to Jim Lyons in York for analysis. The results are interesting, and show significant differences between the two sample types: A change in protein levels Jim tells me, "You will see a significant change in protein levels from the control, with the perimeter results showing interesting effects. On the Spectral charts they have managed to cover a broader range of frequencies than the previous year, and hence reveal more resonances. It is these results I am trying to put in order." He continues, "One can clearly see, however, the differences in magnitude of reflectivity for the differing samples. At least the perimeter results here are consistent with the protein results." He adds, "The bottom line is there is a very significant effect (greater than last time) on the samples, but with at first sight a surprise result indicating most change for the perimeter results. "This does show, however, the dramatic difference between the control and perimeter results. Despite the difficulties of getting these results, it has been a worthwhile exercise. We clearly need many more samples to pursue this in detail." Reports of abnormal menstrual cycles continue, and two women visiting the DECEMBER 2004

beautiful Catherine Wheel which ap. peared at Windmill Hill on June 22 both suffered irregularities, one unexpectedly starting her period immediately after visiting the formation, the other finding her normally consistent menstrual cycle disrupted.

Research team

away as the outskirts of the field they could all feel the vibration of the formation. On going into the formation they all had sensations described as "lightheaded, dizzy, and giddy," and found it was not easy to walk against the flow of the crop-"like going against the tide: a dragging feeling, almost like we were meant to follow the flow." Annabel had more violent effects. She -had an immediate headache on arrival at the outskirts of the field, and felt a resistance to even entering the formation. She nevertheless plucked up courage after asking "silent permission" to enter the formation. Using Harry Oldfield's Electro-Crystal clinical unit machine and a sound meter, Doreen Jenkinson scanned Annabel at the edge of the field and at the center of the formation, and then Annabel wandered off on her own. She felt extreme fatigue and after % hour felt she could no longer stay in the formation and wanted to leave. She had a pain in her left temple on leaving the circle, constriction in her throat, and constriction in her solar plexus and heart chakra areas.

Our scientific research team of Isabel Maxwell-Cade and Peter Staples (brain activity), Sheila Partridge (standing in for Anne Srriithells on measured hormone levels), Dr. Roger Taylor (advanced Kirlian program), and Jim Lyons (dowsing) gathered alongside our six human guinea pigs at Beckhampton on July 20 to conduct control tests in a barn kindly lent to us by David Hues. The chosen formation was the pentacle inside a circle with scimitars extending beyond the outer perimeter. I had visited this formation on two previous occasions. On the first visit I had felt quite nauseous in the center, and made a mental note of this. The second occasion was when I took a group of Americans to visit it. Before entering I had mentioned that if at any time they felt unwell, they should leave the formation immediately. I was the one Disorientation who had to leave, as the moment I went into the center I was overcome with such She ran out of the formation as fast a feeling of nausea that I had to leave as she could. She felt very disorientated instantly. Some guide! and even tried to get into the wrong car. I was reluctant to use this formation When the keys did not fit she thought for our research, but it was the most re- the formation had interfered with her cent, and I was also unaware at the time keys (a Uri Geller effect) before she of a report later sent to me by Doreen realized that she was trying to get into Jenkinson, who has completed the Harry the wrong car. She felt completely disOldfield course. orientated and feared for her sanity. The Oldfield procedure is not unlike Sally felt dizzy and had heart palpitathe Best technique: in one hand the pa- tions; her pulse raced, but she managed tient holds an electrode attached to the to stay inside the circle for an hour. machine that is set to a particular freDoreen felt light-headed, a bit spaced quency or reading while a sound level out, and dryness in the throat area, but meter (scanner) is passed over the stayed the whole hour without too many chakra points in the body. ill effects. Prior to starting the test, a zero readOn reflection, Doreen has decided ing has to be established-the normal that in the future she will take control range being between 10.0+/-6. Other readings far away from the formation in settings need to be correctly adjusted, order to obtain more accurate readings, such as the ECG readings, which range as she believes the energies from a forfrom A to D. A sensitive probe is pressed mation can have far reaching effects. against the ear lobe or foreman and a Doreen took readings at the exact reading is taken. central vortex of the circle. In both Doreen took two other women with cases, Annabel and Sally showed a huge her, Annabel and Sally, and even as far congested (blocked) area of energy at DECEMBER 2004

MUFON UFO JOURNAL

the Brow and Crown Chakras caused by the chakras spinning too fast. The energy field depleted slightly, and then "swelled" again towards the ground. The subjects were then handed a bag of "grounding stones" which they held for just three to five minutes. In this incredibly short time, in both cases there were marked changes in their energy fields. From this experiment Doreen suggests that by carrying specific crystals within the energy field a degree of protection could be afforded to maintain a balanced energy field, especially in formations where people are known to be experiencing bad effects. She feels it is up to the individual to try this out and find which particular crystal helps them, but recommends Clear Quartz, Smokey Quartz, Amethyst, and Rose Quartz, as knowledge gained in Electro-Crystal Therapy suggests that these crystals do in fact help to balance the upper chakras. In order to carry out dispassionate scientific research, none of the scientists nor the four guinea pigs except Jim Lyons had reason to expect the formation would be anything but beneficial. I took the precaution of positioning the group in one of the scimitars away from the center. Unlike the normal scorching days we have usually experienced while conducting the tests, the day was cold and windy. Thankfully no one felt ill, but as Sheila Partridge (who had never been into a crop circle before) was measuring the hormone levels, she suddenly remarked that she thought all circles were supposed to be beneficial and "from these results, I am not sure we should be here at all." Hormone changes On analyzing her results, Anne Smithells reported, "There were significant changes to the hormone reading of all subjects in the test group. Previous crop circle readings have shown 'stressed' adrenal readings to improve after entering the circle. On this occasion, out of the seven test group subjects, three improved and three worsened. She adds, "The significant hormone to have shown constant change was

TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone), which showed a lower reading after entering the circle in six of the seven cases. Thyroid hormones do not normally fluctuate easily. Other hormones that varied before and after entering the circle were estrogen and glucagen (Pancreas), which increased and decreased in equal amounts. Melatonin was also affected." When I asked Annie about these results, she said that it was medically unheard of that thyroid levels could have altered so dramatically within such a short time scale of approximately 2-3 hours. Isobel Maxwell-Cade was the only person whose thyroid levels improved. Christopher Weeks was the most seriously affected. Dr. Roger Taylor measured the changes in area, spectral width, form, and noise of the Kirlian records. Taking the measurements so far apart in time was not ideal, he said. The Russians, who have done the most work in the field of Kirlian records, consider that changes often per cent would be significant. He found that whereas there was no significant change between his control tests and tests inside the formation, most people had marginally benefited from being inside the formation. But it is interesting how this contrasts with 2001. when both readings were taken in the barn. Here all except Linda changed in the negative direction, which I put down to fatigue after a long day in the field.

Open air not the cause One might suppose that, on first going out into the open air, a positive change would be expected. The results from 2002, however, argue against this, since there was a generally negative change on first going into the field outside the circle-albeit rather smaller than 2001. There was then little further change on going into the circle, except Annie M, who had the very positive change. Thus the positive changes found in 2003 on going into the circle seem to be related to the circle, and not to be merely a result of going into the fresh air. So in spite of Sheila's findings of negative changes in certain areas, such as

Illinois MUFON State Director David Marler, left, introduces Peter Davenport, director of the UFO Center, to an audience of about 80 enthusiasts at a special meeting of Illinois MUFON Oct. 2 in Edwardsvilie thyroid, my results suggest that the circle had an overall beneficial effect. In addition to these effects on people, we have also noted effects on equipment. On one occasion, Suzanne Taylor and her film crew accompanied me in order to do some interviews. It was a gloriously warm, sunny day and we conducted an interview inside the formation. At one point, Allen Bransen's sound and camera system failed completely, only to work again when he moved to a different spot inside the formation. As always I am profoundly grateful not only to all the scientists who have contributed to this pioneering research but also to the many people who have recognized the importance of this research, trusted me with their experiences, and gallantly filled in the questionnaires and returned them to me. On a final cautionary note, I would like to remind people that if they do not feel well when visiting a crop circle, come out immediately.

MUFON UFO Journal

If you are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant, it is not advisable to enter a formation. Also, due to the many electrical failures experienced inside the circles, if you have a health device powered by a battery, such as a heart pacemaker, do NOT venture in.

Invisible comets could pose serious threat Comets that are invisible to astronomers could pose a lethal threat from space, scientists said recently. They believe that giant "stealth" comets made up of loose material reflect so little light that they cannot be seen. If the theory is right, the chance of the Earth being hit by a comet big enough to wipe out human civilization may be higher than experts believe. Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe, head of the team at Cardiff University's Centre for Astrobiology, which delivered the warning, said: "It's possible we need to think again about mitigating strategies," but noted that NASA has a new weapon with the power to "de-cloak" stealth comets. DECEMBER 2004

Object moves over house

Alaskan close encounter leaves man shaken By Chris Rutkowski rutk<[email protected]£a This case would be very worthwhile to follow up, if it wasn't for the fact that the location is so isolated. Battles, AK, Sept. 17,2004,2:30 AM. Witness' Narrative: "I live in a remote town in northern Alaska. After having dinner at a friend's I went home. My place is located about two miles south of town. "There is an airport located there and a rotating beacon for the airport. I have lived here for nearly thirty years. "Being located away from town, it is very quiet. I went to sleep around 11PM.

I was awakened by a humming sound that was not real loud, almost like a fluorescent lamp with a bad ballast. I thought it was my inverter downstairs and got up to see if something was wrong. "As I was lying back in bed I could see the light from the airport beacon flashing in the north window. I sat up and noticed red and white lights flashing on the trees through the east window. "I thought it might be some of the locals stuck in my driveway, and the red and white lights were from the rear of the vehicle. "I then got out of bed to look out the window facing my driveway. I never

Tennessee women watch strangely-shaped object repeatedly change directions Two women reported sighting a strange object at Elizabethton, TN, on Aug. 18,2004, at 9:30 PM. One of the witnesses described the incident: "My Aunt Myrtle and I were sitting on my front porch looking to the west. Several planes had gone by. The sky was clear, the Moon was a sliver at 30 degrees. "There was an airplane going from north to south, about an inch under the Moon. "It suddenly changed directions from south to north. It didn't seem to turn

around, it just backed up. "I told my aunt, 'That's not a plane.' As she looked up it changed directions again, going back south. By this time we were both in the yard. At one time the large part of it pulsated in a very white glow (see drawing above). "We watched it go back and forth across the sky until it was so small we couldn't see it. It actually drifted west, although it was going north and south as it changed directions." -Melvin Redfern, TN MUFON ASD/FI

Back issues of MUFONTUFO Journal to be available early next year on CDs Back issues of the MUFON UFO Journal (and SKYLOOK too) will be available on CDs in early 2005. Each CD will contain a full year of issues, DECEMBER 2004

starting with 1967. We plan to announce the price and ordering information in the January and February issues of the Journal. MUFON UFO JOURNAL

even looked down, as I immediately saw the source of the lights. Just above the tree top was an object just hanging there, not moving. "It was about 20 to 30 feet across, about 6 to 8 feet thick,and about 50 feet away. It was more or less disc-shaped. The upper part of the object was dark, while the bottom had red and white lights that flashed in no apparent pattern. "I stepped back from the window and grabbed the phone to attempt to call the local weather service, as they were staffed 24 hours a day. I was able to get someone and told them to look towards my house and see if they could see what I was seeing. "Due to the trees in his area he was not able to see my house. I kept thinking to myself that this can't be happening, this is not real. After maybe a minute on the phone I was becoming desperate to get someone to see this. "I then contacted another person I thought might be able to see my place. Again due to the trees surrounding his place, he could not see my place. By now I had become very scared. I stood in the middle of the room, not knowing what to do. "It must have been two minutes by now, and the object began to move toward the house. As it passed above the house it again stopped. It seemed to just stay there for a long time then suddenly there was an extremely bright white light that scanned the entire yard and house three or four times. "It stopped and didn't move for a few seconds, and then started moving to the south slowly. I didn't move till I could no longer see any lights outside. "I then informed the other party that if he did not hear from me in two minutes to come looking. "I then dressed, grabbed a firearm and flashlight, and went downstairs. I went outside looking for it, but it was gone."

Is the Journal slipping? Dear Editor: As a professional writer and editor and a member of MUFON for more than ten years, I am becoming increasingly dismayed by the content of the MUFON UFO Journal. The last two issues of the Journal, with a large number of pages devoted to the "Raechel's Eyes" story featuring an astounding claim of an "apparent alien hybrid" restoring the sight of a blind woman, and Beverly Trout's two-part discussion of the "reptile perspective," are especially questionable. Let me state first of all that I believe the abduction phenomena is real. Further, I believe that the United States government is aware of an alien presence on our planet and that it is engaged in an active disinformation campaign. But, while I am not a scientist and certainly don't see myself as someone qualified to be an objective investigator, it's clear to me that the "Raechel's.Eyes" story is full of holes at least a mile wide. First of all, there is virtually no mention by investigator Jean Bilodeaux of verification of the claims made by the mother of the now deceased young woman beyond checking college transcripts (there was a "Raechel" found) and interviewing former classmates who verified that the young woman had an "otherworldly roommate." With all due respect, I had some "otherwordly" roommates of my own during my college years. The investigator makes no mention (which I find incredible) of whether or not she even tried to verify the mother's claims of the restoration of her daughter's sight. I would think that the sudden and inexplicable restoration of sight would be a phenomenon of no small order, and that voluminous medical documentation of this miracle would be easily found. But instead of offering any proof of

8

this astonishing assertion, she devotes the majority of her articles to a recital of the mother's claims, much of it recovered under hypnotic regression. While this is all very interesting, it doesn't come even remotely close to offering any proof of the story's veracity. Is the "Raechel's Eyes" story real? It may well be, but the author and editor's choice of focusing on the "woo-woo" aspects of the story and not on any hard line investigating that may or may not have been done certainly doesn't give me any basis on which to judge. Even more disturbing to me, however, is the reference in the second article's accompanying Editor's Note to the ad in that same issue offering the "Raechel's Eyes" book for sale at the incredible "MUFON Special" price of $45. Frankly, this violates every tenet of editorial-advertising separation in existence, and certainly offers anyone suspicious of the editor's motives in choosing to feature these articles so prominently more than a little food for thought. With regard to Beverly Trout's musings on the reptile perspective, while I found it thought provoking, it ultimately amounts to nothing more than the rankest speculation and, when added to the extremely shaky "Raechel's Eyes" story and a short article headlined "Kentucky Professor Says Extraterrestrials Are Here," convinces me more than ever that the MUFONJournal\\2& lost its focus. With the exception of Stan Friedman's always interesting observations and "Filers Files," the Journal seems to me to be heading further.and further into tabloid territory and further and further away from what it's designed to be: The flagship publication of the organization dedicated to the scientific study of the UFO phenomena. -Sandy Coleman

MUFON UFO Journal

Editor's reply: Dear Sandy, Thanks for your comments re Raechel's Eyes and the article on reptilians. I am in the process of contacting the author of Raechel's eyes. The announcement that a book is available to Journal readers was made so that those interested in more detailed information could buy the book if they wanted to, something we would do for any article. MUFON was not selling the book, and gets no commission on any sales. The "special price" to MUFON members was the publisher's offer, and we just passed it on. As for the reptilians, they seem to be very much a part of testimonies by many abductees, and thus part of the total UFO picture. While it would be nice to have groundbreaking news on this topic-as with other aspects of ufology-we have to go with what is currently available. Bev Trout, MUFON's director for Iowa, is a very reliable investigator.

Response: Dwight, I very much appreciate your thoughtful reply. Believe me, I more than understand your need for material and the fact that you' ve got to go with what you have. But I remain very disturbed by the Raechel's Eyes piece. The author provided absolutely no proof of any of her assertions or even evidence of her attempt to verify the most astonishing claim of all-the restoration of eyesight to a hopelessly blind young woman and without it, her piece should have not been accepted. If the proper investigative work was done, I would have to believe she would be more than willing to revise. If not, then her refusal, as well, would speak volumes. DECEMBER 2004

Further, by offering the book for sale in the editorial pages of the Journal, it certainly appears to me to be a MUFON endorsement of the story- something I think you should be very reluctant to do. I certainly don' t know if the story is true-heck, I'm certainly willing to believe it, but not without some facts and hard evidence to back it up. I also agree that the reptillian piece was very interesting and Bev Trout is a woman with a great deal of credibility. But combined with the Raechel's Eyes piece in the same issue, the focus of these particular issues seemed to me to be unnecessarily sensationalistic. Dwight, I'm certainly not an investigator, but I do look to the Journal tor credible, reliable information. If nothing else is available, I'd rather read expanded Filers Files than "woo-woo" articles that may or may not be true. Thanks for listening. I know that editing a monthly publication is tough work and I appreciate your courtesy in replying. -Sandy

Following is a response from the author of Raechel's Eyes, Jean Bilodeaux: Dwight, I found the letter to the editor interesting and am replying with clarification of the points the writer mentions. First I do want to address the point about the suggested violation of editorial/advertising separation. When I wrote the two articles for you and the Journal, I had no idea that the book would be published. Raechel's Eyes had been submitted to the publisher more than five years earlier with no mention of a publishing date. Had I known it was going to be published, I would have informed you of this fact and left the decision of whether you wanted to print the articles up to you. I also would have written the articles a bit differently to make them sound more exciting. I am sorry if this coincidence reflected poorly on your or my professionalism. The writer seems to have missed the sentences that stated the articles were just a "minute portion of the investigaDECEMBER 2004

tion and that the "investigation continues." Perhaps my "dwelling" on the "woowoo" aspects of the investigation in the article, was an editorial error on my part. I thought it was interesting, as I had never seen a regression before, and it wasn't nearly as "woo-woo" as I had been led to believe by watching TV. It was mainly just hard work. Many names of people, from Marisa's college years were recalled during these sessions and subsequently investigated. Perhaps I could be so bold as to suggest the writer read the book so as to assure him(her)self that hard line investigating was done. As for obtaining the voluminous medical documentation that must have occurred with the sudden restoration of Marisa's sight-this is not the movies. The federal government enforces the HTPA act, which insures patient privacy and forbids the release of any patient medical records to people other than the patient's physician or under subpoena by law officers. I could not obtain Marisa's medical records, nor could her mother. Instead I had to rely on the testimony of Marisa's mother, brother, husband, roommates and friends. Except for her mother, none of the others knew of the investigation-only that I was writing about her life. If the writer has any other ideas on how to legally obtain Marisa's medical records, please let me know and I'll try. BTW, the doctor is no longer in practice. Of course almost all of us have had "other-worldly" roommates, but time and maturity modifies our perceptions of those different than ourselves. This did not occur with the remembrances of Raechel. Twenty-five years ago I didn't know much about UFOs, had never heard of abductions, missing time, cattle mutilations, or crop circles. After investigating more than 200 UFO sightings, 20+ cattle mutilations, three crop circles and several possible abductions, I can only say one thing for sure-there are unexplained things happening in the world today. The subject of reptilians makes me uneasy, just as the discussion of abductions and cattle mutilations did in the past. Yet I've heard very credible sounding MUFON UFO JOURNAL

people talk about their experiences with these creatures. I' ve learned that just because something doesn't fit into my "reality box," doesn't mean it doesn't exist or isn't connected in some way to UFOs. I wasn't comfortable with "hybrids," etc. when I started investigating Raechel's Eyes; however, as you stated, science has now brought this process within the realm of reality. Bev Trout is breaking new ground by bringing this to the public's attention. Only time and more research will validate or invalidate her findings. I applaud MUFON and you for allowing the examination and discussion of topics unexplained yet seemingly related to the UFO phenomenon. None of us can definitively prove or disprove much of anything in this genre. I have never said that I could prove unequivocally that Raechel was an alien/ human hybrid. You said "Apparent" in each of the articles, and I agree. If I could prove it, I'd be on the cover of Time or Newsweek. I can only put my pieces of the puzzle on the table (your Journal) in hopes that someone will come forward with more pieces, and that ultimately the whole picture will be revealed. For this opportunity, I thank you. -Jean Bilodeaux

Missouri director Widaman teaching UFO courses Bruce Widaman, MUFON's longtime state director for Missouri, is teaching UFO courses at the St.Charles County Community CoUege. The non-credit courses, Flying Saucers 101 and Flying Saucers 102, are taught on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 8 PM. Flying Saucers 101 topics range from ancient aliens to Roswell to Phillip Corso, while Flying Saucers 102 includes such topics as government denial, Area 51, life on Mars, strange harvests, strange deaths, Cape Girardeau, human experimentation, and the alien presence.

MorningstarPass, The Collapse of the UFO Coverup, by Victor Norgarde,2003. 1st Books Library, Bloomington,IN,ISBN 1-4140-1909-2, 6x9, soft cover, 711 pages. Reviewed by Dwight Connelly This is a fiction book based on the UFO phenomenon, and one that is both challenging and rewarding to read. The author, who is .writing under a pen name, "served in se.veral theatres of the Cold War," and is "a trained scientist" who works in the aerospace field while writing and teaching in the Southeast. Two things are clear in this book: Norgarde is a good writer, and he gives every indication of knowing what he is talking about. The numerous characters in this book are well developed, and the narration moves along nicely. The story focuses on two females involved with television news, Cassandra Chen and Pamela Monroe, who play key roles in the unfolding confrontation between humans and aliens as a government cover-up unravels. But ranchers, the military, politicians, and undercover operatives are other key ; players. Since there are so many characters, and since the story moves from place to place and character to character so often, it would have been very helpful to have had a list and brief description of each character in a separate section of the book so that the reader could keep better track of them. This is especially important because of the length of the book-more than 700 pages. And these 700 pages are not filled with the relatively large type you

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are now reading, but with smaller type. I doubt that few, if any, readers will complete this book in one or two sittings, despite its ability to keep the reader fully involved. In a book so well written, it is surprising that the proofreading is so terrible. Following is one of the many examples of poor sentence construction: "He stepped up to the desk as she up a stethoscope in the ears, he rolled up his right shirt sleeve, a bandage covered a ball of cotton pressed onto his arm." Or this: "Their has been not detectable aerial activity near hear, only three more cattle found cut up to the East near Khaborsk this morning." Unfortunately, these are not isolated examples. Similar poor sentence construction and consistent misspellings are found throughout the book, and this noticeably interferes with the reading. Mr. Norgarde, who is embarrassed by the poor proofreading, assures me that this will be corrected in future printings. Despite its annoying errors, this novel is the first attempt by anyone to examine an end-of-the-cover-up scenario in the context of the whole UFO phenomenon, including its darker aspects of abduction, mutilations, and extra-constitutional government conduct. It is precisely these latter aspects of the UFO phenomenon that make disclosure so fraught with difficulty for the government, and the book confronts these issues head on. The reader sees the effects of the cover-up from many different perspectives, and is forced to view all aspects of the phenomenon. Thus I would especially recommend this book for those who are fascinated with the possibilities of a government cover-up. Morningstar Pass will keep you in suspense-and perhaps even frighten you as the plot unfolds.

MUFON UFO Journal

Dan Aykroyd-Unplugged on UFOs, DVD interview by David Sereda, 2004. $21.95 + $6.95 shipping. Graviton Productions, LAUFO, 233 Third Ave., Venice, CA 90291. http:// store.laufo.com. Reviewed by James Neff I was fortunate enough to see a rough cut of the forthcoming Graviton Productions "Dan Aykroyd-Unplugged On UFOs." Aykroyd, long known to be a free-thinker and proponent of UFO reality (in addition to excellent actor and famous improvisational comedian) really weaves a mind boggling thread or two in this fascinating, highly charged interview conducted by David Sereda. Definitely not just for the eggheads, you'll find yourself hearing about and understanding cutting edge issues of quantum physics which are now practically inextricable from the UFO phenomr enon, and which must be faced if we plan to step gracefully into the 21 st century mind-culture on the issue of extraterrestrial visitation, as well as earthbound endeavors in the race to discover anti-gravity propulsion. Do we already have this technology? And if yes, is it the result of back engineered alien recovery from crashes or intercepts? Sereda and Aykroyd examine the present state of affairs, geopolitically and scientifically, including a very interesting discussion of The Hutchison Effect, with several remarkable film examples of antigravity in action. Aykroyd displays an encyclopedic knowledge of both physics and UFO history/culture, and bends thoughts and possibilities in ways only he could do, and at times with an uncomfortable (even to DECEMBER 2004

Dan!) sense of dark humor for which he is world renown. Who are they? What are they? Why are they here? How do they come and go? Are we their future lunch? Sereda masterfully intrigues Aykroyd with all the right elements, and Dan just pours forth an unabashed, intellectually inspiring examination of the big issues in UFOlogy like a seasoned professor. There's not a dull moment in this superb interview which is interspaced with fascinating UFO footage and visuals. Aykroyd comes across as an old soul, with insights and understanding of truly Renaissance proportions. There is even a shocking personal revelation and experience as told by Aykroyd that will leave you with the hair standing up on the back of your neck! But you'll have to see the DVD to find out what that's allabout. No spoiler here. But believe me, it's quite a remarkable encounter with forces we'd just as soon pretend don't exist in order to sleep at night. To hear it from Dan's own mouth makes it all the more riveting and convincing. This DVD will make you think, and you'll find yourself rolling the conversation over in your mind many days after you've put it back in the case. A definite must-have for any serious UFOlogical library. . /Thanks to Pat Uskert and Graviton for the sneak peak!

More evidence of water on Mars at one time Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity continue to uncover evidence of a watery past on the Red Planet, NASA scientists say. After months of climbing, the Spirit rover reports that volcanic ash mixed with groundwater built the hills near its January (2004) landing site. Investigations by the rover Opportunity inside a deep crater show water has cracked rocks on the Martian surface, says mission science chief Steve Squyres of Cornell University. Water is considered a prerequisite for life on Mars. -Thanks to UFO Roundup, Vol. 9, #46, Joseph Trainor.

DECEMBER 2004

£ ;MNt w-

...-12s

Drawing by the wife of the object and the area'bejiitfd their house.

Clear view of UFO and beam of light reported by South Carolina couple This case, from Ocbnee County, SC, middle of the object. The light seemed involved a man and his wife, and oc- to have moved at least 150 feet. curred in.1971 or 1972. It was investi"The field where I first caught sight gated by George Fawcett, and submit- of the object was on a hill. Going down ted to the Journal^ George Lund, SD, the hill were trees and a small creek that NC. Following is the wife's account of my daughter and I would frequently visit, the sighting: and normally could not be seen from our "The actual year and month of the front porch. sighting are, as with time, somewhat "When watching this object with the hazy. I'm not certain whether it was in beam of light magnifying everything bethe year 1971 or 72. Nor do I remember low, I became very frightened for my the exact month. We were living in a rural children and myself. I told my husband area near Salem, SC. that I was concerned for our safety, and "My husband worked at Oconee started to go into the house. Nuclear Station, and I was a stay-at"My husband asked me to stay for a home mother of one or two children, and few more minutes. I stayed until the obexpecting another. I can't remember if I ject just wasn't there any longer. It was was expecting my second or third child, there, then it wasn't. because they are only 13 months apart. "I wouldn't say it vanished, just that it "I was in the living room when my moved very very fast. The actual sighthusband called to me to come out on the ing lasted about 20 minutes." front porch. It was not yet dusk. I could see everything as plain as day. He said, look at this! I looked across the road, Estate Planning and hovering just above the ground in the field was a silver-gray saucer-shaped Planned giving can be beneficial object. It didn't make a sound, but we both to MUFON and to your own felt its vibrations. tax and estate situation. "I don't remember seeing the beam If you wish to have more inforof light on it at that time. I can't rememmation on various options and benber it actually moving. But later I knew efits, please contact MUFON headit must have in order for me to have seen quarters. the light that came from underneath the MUFON UFO JOURNAL

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Anthropologists say new species of human found in Indonesia NewScientist.com news service The remains of a tiny and hitherto unknown species of human that lived as recently as 13,000 years ago have been discovered on an Indonesian island. The discovery has been heralded as the most important paleoanthro-pological find for 50 years, and has radically altered the accepted picture of human evolution. The skull and bones of one adult female, and fragments from up to six other specimens, were found in the Liang Bua limestone caves on Flores Island, which lies at the eastern tip of Java. The female skeleton, known as LB1or by the nickname "Ebu"-has been assigned to a new species within the genus Homo-Homofloresiensis. Examination of the remains shows members of the species stood just one meter (about three feet) tall and had a brain no bigger than a grapefruit. A handful of stone tools from the same period were also found in the caves, along with the bones and teeth of several dwarf stegodons, an ancestor of the modern elephant. Other animal remains, including rats, bats, and fish, show signs that they were cooked around the time H. floresiensis inhabited the caves.

Jaw-dropping Instead of following a simple evolutionary path culminating in modern humans-j%wz
ral History Museum in London, "and shows how little we really know about human evolution." Homo sapiens are thought to have colonised Flores island between 55,000 and 35,000 years ago, meaning they must have lived alongside H. floresiensis^ tens of thousands of years.

Worn molars

Ebu 's skull (left) is much smaller than that of a modern human (image: PeterBrown)

Indonesian archaeologists have dug at few hundred thousand years. the Liang Bua cave site for the past 20 Its tiny size was probably an adaptayears, so at first the small skull misled tion to isolated island conditions, where the excavation team. a low calorie diet and the lack of large "We thought the skull and the man- predators made smaller physical chardible was from a child," says excava- acteristics advantageous. tion site director Thomas Sutikna of the There is no evidence the Flores was Indonesian Centre for Archaeology, who ever linked by land to other parts of was there when the discovery was made south-east Asia, so the ancestors of this in September 2003. species might have used boats or rafts "But after a week, we checked the to reach it. teeth and saw that they were already But the fact this population evidently worn, and that the molars had erupted, became isolated suggests that they may so she was more than 20 years old." have relied on temporary land links to The authenticity of the remains has first reach the island. been confirmed by three-dimensional Xray images which revealed the internal Cause of demise unknown structure of the skull of LB 1, something What caused the demise of H. that would be virtually impossible to fake. floresiensis is unknown. It is possible Accelerator mass spectrometry dat- that they were out-competed for food ing suggests that LBl's remains are and other resources by H. sapiens or 18,000 years old. But New Sc/entis/has that they were wiped out by a volcanic learned that some bone fragments could eruption about 12,000 years ago. be as young as 13,000 years old. Journal reference: Nature(vol 431, p The oldest remains from the site are 1055, p 1087). Will Knight and Rachel 78,000 and 94,000 years old, respectively. Nowak This means H.floresiensissurvived well beyond the last Neanderthals, which are thought to have disappeared from Europe and western Asian about 28,000 years ago.

UFO Newsclipping Service

Splendid isolation "The most remarkable thing is that there was a time, not so long ago, when two very different human species walked the planet," says Peter Brown of the University of New England, Australia, who led the team that made the discovery. H. floresiensis is thought to have descended from a population that became marooned on Flores during the last MUFON UFO Journal

Monthly collection of news stories and features about UFOs and related phenomena from the world's press, including translations. For a sample copy and additional information, contact UFONS, 2 Caney Valley Drive, Plumerville, AR 72127-8725, or [email protected]

DECEMBER 2004

Director, MUFON Eastern Re-

Note: These reports are presented in order to keep readers informed of some of the vast number of sightings. However, these cases have not been officially investigated.

Indiana Cave Road sighting BLOOMINGTON - On Oct. 14, 2004, the witness was driving west on Cave Road between 10:15 and 10:30 PM, when he observed a cloud bank ahead of him "light up." Immediately thereafter, an object with three brilliant spotlightlike white lights descended into George Filer view. The lights were shining down onto the ground, below and behind the object, at a 45-degree angle. The lights emanating from the craft illuminated its underside, revealing a rounded or disc-shaped structure. As the witness' vehicle made the turn onto Gifford Road, the object was continuing its descent, finally leveling out at tree line height. The object came to a full stop only twenty yards ahead of the witness' vehicle, with the three "spot lights" shining directly downward onto Gifford Road. The object remained stationary for a few seconds, then "blinked off." No additional navigational lights, beacon lights, or forward landing lights were observed on the large craft. When asked about the size of the object, the witness reported simply that it was "big!" From inside his vehicle, the witness could not hear any accompanying sounds from the object, nor did he experience or observe any associated physical disturbances. Monroe County Airport is only a couple of miles east of the sightDECEMBER 2004

ing location, but is situated at a right angle to the object's south-to-northwest heading. Thanks to Lynn Taylor [email protected] AAARC www.sentinerfiles.com

UK cross-shaped object

maybe an aircraft drop tank. He watched it until it disappeared in the distance to the south. There were jetliners visible in the sky at the same time on approach to LAX and Ontario airport, and they appeared much higher than this object. He reports, "The speed of the object reminded me of a military jet making a pass at an air show-fast but not supersonic. There was no noticeable noise from the object, but there was a lot of background noise due to the wind in the trees. "I am a law enforcement officer with 18 years experience, and have been an airplane buff since childhood."

KENT - The witness saw two objects rise up into the sky on Sept. 29, 2004, at 5:45 PM, and after a short while one moved away while the other stayed in the same place. He called to his family, and they got out the binoculars and watched as one turned on to its side. This craft was a cross shape, and it started to rise slowly. The other one stayed upright, and it was a saucer shape with a quite high More Phoenix lights? dome and what appeared to be legs. 40 MILES S. OF PHOENIX They continued to watch, and it On Sept. 23,2004, at 9:30 PM six bright, moved to the side, rose up, and disapgolden lights similar to the "Phoenix peared, with the two objects moving tolights" of 1997 danced across the desert gether and then apart. Thanks to Peter sky, separate and perfectly angled from Davenport. one another, according to the witness. 'Two of the lights were vertical to one another," said the witness, "arid appeared California cylinder to be separated by at least a thousand RIVERSIDE - A white object was feet. The other four lights, if connected, seen flying north to south, reflecting sun- would have made a perfect square. light on Nov. 1,2004, by a police officer "I could not tell the distance at all. It who was going for his daily walk. He was a clear night over the desert. The noticed a white object appear above the lights could have been five miles away, treeline in a blue and clear sky, with strong or 30 miles. The lights then disappeared, and gusty winds at 11:40 AM. sometimes two at a time, sometimes one. At first, he thought it was a toy bal- Then, they would immediately appear loon, but it became apparent that the maybe a mile to the west of where they object was not being tossed about by the had just been seconds before-again perwind, but was proceeding from north to fectly spaced from one another. south, straight as an arrow and contrary "At one point, one of the lights vanto the wind direction. ished, and immediately like a strobe efIt passed almost directly overhead, he fect they moved across the sky for says, reflecting the sunlight as it passed. maybe half a mile, then vanished. The It appeared to be shiny, opaque white, lights would appear for about 5 seconds, not serf-luminous. There were no wings, then vanish for 10 minutes, then show fins, or other protrusions visible. again. I have been an airline pilot for over The shape was a short tube with a decade and have never seen anything rounded ends, like a vitamin capsule or like this. MUFON UFO JOURNAL

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"There were no beacons, no navigation lights. These things did not appear to be helicopters for they moved too smoothly through the sky with no vibration on the lights, and much too quickly. "Could it have been military? Possibly. But, an aircraft we are not privy to know about." Thanks to Peter Davenport.

"It was saucer-shaped with a little with the red lights hovering over Phoehump on top, only extremely big. I and nix, AZ. Unreal. my boyfriend just stared at it for a few seconds. It was really odd because it had no lights coming from it, yet we could Maine UFO size of the Moon still see it. ORONO - The witness was watch"It was like someone took a picture ing TV at 9:47 PM on Oct. 28, 2004, of it during the day and stuck it in a pic- when he saw odd red and white lights ture of the night. It was dimmer than that, fly by outside, which went away after but clearly visible. It zoomed from side about five seconds. He stood up and to side over and over, and then forward looked out his window to get a closer and back over and over like a pattern. Illinois Halloween UFOs look. All of a sudden, they came back. "Then it made a hideous sound, like a SOUTH CHICAGO SUBURBS He reports, "The lights were circling Three red lights were seen flying in a cricket chirp magnified by a million. I around on a saucer, and you could tell triangle formation, starting at 6:55 PM thought something exploded and that the the object was disc-shaped. It was about in the evening sky shortly after sunset entire city must have heard it. My Mom the size of a full moon, and maybe 1-2 and dad heard it too, but didn't see any- miles away. Then, the lights vanished. on Oct. 31,2004. Hundreds reported seeing the strange thing. When the lights vanished, it seemed as "Then it zoomed over our heads and though the object itself did too. red lights on the ground in the communities of Tinley Park, Orland Park, Oak was gone. I figure it must have zoomed "Then five seconds later, they came Forest, Frankfort, Manhattan, and away, but one minute it was there, then back. The colors didn't change. The the next it was gone. Like a blink. You object was moving south for about three Mokena that lasted to after 11 PM. The local police department was blink, it's there. You blink, it's gone. seconds when they finally vanished and "The sky was dark navy blue with the never came back. There was no noise." flooded with calls from citizens, curious to know the cause of the lights. Similar stars brightly shining. Everything went Thanks to Peter Davenport. reports were given to the National Re- back to normal, like nothing happened at all." Thanks to Peter Davenport. porting Center. The formation appears to be indistinNew York gray objects guishable from a formation of three red NEW YORK CITY - The witness lights reported on Aug. 21,2004, in the Arizona flying triangle reports, "On Oct. 27,2004, at 10:15 PM, same general area. Given that the lights PHOENIX - The witness states, "We the night of the lunar eclipse, my 13-yearreportedly were simultaneously visible were driving on 60 West in downtown old son and I were observing the moon over a broad area seems to suggest that Phoenix to our hotel room on Sept. 28, inside Central Park through binoculars. the individual lights are fairly large, with 2004, at 8:15 PM when my "I was gazing up at the rest of the high-power sources of illumination. fiance and I saw a HUGE triangle ob- sky, marveling at the stars, which is a Moreover, the lights were visible by ject hovering near the Phoenix Airport." real pleasure when you live in the city. observers from as far away as twelve "The object had about 25-50 red LED 'What the hell is that?' I said out loud as miles, further underscoring our suspicion style lights fading on and off slowly. On soon as I saw the phenomenon. that the lights were not the product of each tip of the triangle, there was a white "Up in the sky, about as high as an some sort of hoax, despite their appear- light. There was no noise, it was silent. airplane would fly over Manhattan, at a ance on the night of Halloween. It appeared to be hovering or moving at 45-degree angle to the south, were two Field Investigators of the Illinois a real slow pace. separate V-shaped solid gray metallic obChapter of the Mutual UFO Network "There were two airplanes flying jects flying side by side in formation. (MUFON), supervised by State Direc- around the craft, appearing to inspect the "They were flying at the same speed, tor Dave Marler, are actively investigat- huge UFO. The planes looked like ants without lights, and they made no sound. ing the two incidents. Thanks to Peter compared to the huge craft. As we drove They were clearly visible against the B.Davenport. along the highway, we lost sight of it near black, cloudless sky with the city lights Dunlap Avenue. & moonlight reflecting their V shape and "Traffic on the highway appeared to gray color. They moved together, silently, Big saucer zooms in Texas take notice, too, as we slowed down to steadily across the sky toward midtown. "We lost sight of them in the lights RICHARDSON - The witness re- 55 mph. A police car was next to us over mid-Manhattan. The whole episode observing the UFO with us. We had our ports, "My boyfriend and I were lying couldn't have lasted longer than two on a blanket stargazing in my backyard digital camera with us and were able to minutes." Thanks to Peter Davenport. take photos and video of the UFO. around 11:30 PM, on Oct. 29,2004, when "Because it was night, the photos and we saw this saucer-shaped thing exactly like you see on TV fly over us. It was video are blurry, but you can clearly extremely big, bigger than my average make out the object's shape size house.

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MUFON UFO Journal

DECEMBER 2004

North Carolina red lights KERNERSVILLE - The witness was fishing down on the beach near Avon around 8 PM on Oct. 28,2004, when he saw some strange red lights in the sky. He explains, "With my back to the ocean, the light appeared just a little to the left. It was high in the sky about cloud level at a 45 -degree angle. "It was round and about the size of your little fingernail held out at arm's length. The light first appeared by itself for about two seconds, then another light seemed to come out of it. It was spaced away from the first about the same distance as the diameter of the first light. "Then, another came out of the second, and another, and another, until there were either four or five lights side-byside in the sky, all the same size. Then, I can't remember for sure, they either . went out all at one time or they went out one at a time in the order they lit up. "The night before, I also saw two red lights side-by-side lower to the ground toward Frisco." Thanks to Peter Davenport. .

Unexplained photos in Ohio S. Swanson writes: "My friend and I were driving to New York, and we stopped for fuel in Ohio on Oct. 20, 2004.1 decided to snap a photo of a sign for humor. They had left out a decimal point advertising three foot-long hot dogs for$1199. "I stepped out of the vehicle to take all four photos. Later that night we reached Malone, and I downloaded the photos from my camera to my computer. It was then that I realized the sign was not the only thing in the photos. "There was no sun shining on that day, and as far as my memory serves me, there was not a light on top of the sign. The rod, code, and light are all embedded in the photos. They have not been despeckled or manipulated in anyway. "The picture shows clearly some alien type of code written within the rod. The camera is an HP PhotoSmart 318." Thanks to S. Swanson.

Brooklyn triangle BROOKLYN - The witness states, "I was outside with my daughter observDECEMBER 2004

ing the lunar eclipse, and looked to the far left of the moon and saw an odd shape against a few stars. If I hadn't been looking at that exact spot. I never would have seen it. It almost looked transparent. "I pointed it out to my daughter and she said 'It's a ship!' It was gliding slowly north to south coming directly toward us over our heads. It was four times the size of a 747, and had no lights and made no sound. At first it looked like a boomerang, where its front edges reflected a dull faint gray. "As the ship moved above our heads it blotted out the few stars. It was a flying triangle that scared and excited us at the same time." Thanks to Peter Davenport.

South Carolina large triangle CHARLESTON Air Force Base The witness was sitting outside on Oct. 20, 2004, at 8:20 PM when he noticed eight white lights blinking in the distance, and as they moved closer he saw they blinked in a huge triangle pattern. One light blinked at the top, and then three or four blinks down the sides simultaneously. The craft was huge, and it flew towards the Air Force base. When it reached about the edge of the military property line it changed direction and flew towards the flight line and center of the base. "I was on a cell phone with a friend," says the witness, "and she pulled up to see the top of the triangles blinking light before it disappeared behind a row of trees two streets away. "It was high up enough that 1 could make out all the lights, even though it never got on top of us, but about the level planes fly when they are mid-level in the sky. "The craft should have been low enough to be heard, but it was quiet. The lights moved across the sky together, never getting farther or closer apart. We stood staring into the sky, and two minutes after it disappeared, a solid red circular light came from almost exactly where we had seen the triangle last, and it was flying swiftly in our direction. "I am at the far end of the base, and I only hear jets take off. When the red circle was overhead of us, we heard a jet take off-the roar is loud and unmisMUFON UFO JOURNAL

takable. Suddenly the red light just blinked out. "The triangle of lights was huge, maybe a half mile across, and the red circle was about the size of an airplane." Thanks to Peter Davenport.

UFOs over Himalayas TARAI REGION, INDIA - "Mountain villagers in the Tarai region of India's Himachal Pradesh state claim that UFOs have been seen by day and by night near the high-altitude glaciers of the Himalayas, and that aliens are building a very large underground base up there. "Since Sunday, Oct. 10,2004, UFOs ranging in size from very large cylindrical objects of a dull silver color to small speedy discs have been seen over the glaciers north of Chini, about 25 miles from India's border with China. "Indian military personnel are reporting many exceedingly abnormal activities and UFO sightings all around the clock. Some Indian helicopter pilots are complaining about sophisticated jamming. Some of the Indian Air Force pilots are continually reporting seeing strange flying objects in the Himalayas near the Chinese border. "There are many indications that a large underground base is now being built within the hard andesite (bedrock) of the high Himalayas. The construction is going on in the high terrain between India and China." Thanks to UFO Roundup Vol 9, #43, 10/27/04 Editor: Joseph Trainor Note: UFOs have been reported in this area since 1941, during World War

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Lights hi the Netherlands WEERT - The witness reports seeing a light blue very bright light with a red light on its right side that was onesixth smaller than the blue light flying from west to east on Oct. 21, 2004, at 9:10 PM. The lights were flying upward, faster and bigger than an airplane. Thanks to Peter Davenport.

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PERCEPTION By Stanton T. Friedman

More on the impossible After lectures and on radio shows, I am sometimes asked what I am working on now. My response is usually that there are two books I would like to write and for which I am gathering data. One is Flying Saucers and Science. This would include updates on many of the MUFON Symposium papers I have presented, and cover areas that few others seem to deal with about the Cosmic Watergate, technology and saucers, SETI vs. ufology, etc. The other will be a book, It's Impossible, Isn 't It?. History is loaded with examples where progress in many different areas has been significantly delayed by the obstacles raised by well educated noisy negativists, ancient academics, and fossilized physicists. They want to protect us from the new "foolish" concepts, technology, and mind expanding views. I dealt in a general way with the false assumptions that underlie these attacks in a Journal column in September, 2003. Here I will deal with several more sharply drawn examples. My purpose is to get people to think about areas in today's world where similar bias, ignorance, and arrogance are standing in the way of their looking at the evidence related to flying saucer visitations. Moon exploration impossible? A past target for my scorn has been Dr. Lee Deforest (1873-1961) because of his off-the-wall comments about space travel. He was quoted by the St. Louis Post Dispatch (February 25, 1957) as saying, "To place a man in a multi-stage rocket and project him into the controlling gravitational field of the Moon where the passengers can make scientific observations, perhaps land alive, and then return to earth; all that constitutes a wild dream worthy of Jules Veme. I am bold enough to say that such a man-made moon voyage will never occur regard16

less of future scientific advances." It took all of 12 years to accomplish this "wild" science fiction dream. Now Dr. Deforest, PhD from Yale in physics in 1899, was himself a very innovative and interesting individual. He obtained more than 300 patents. Many people, especially himself, considered him the father of modern radio as the inventor of the Audion tube which made radio and television possible. He actually Stan Friedman broadcast Enrico Caruso from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City in 1910. He was also a pioneer in making talking motion pictures possible, and spent the last 30 years of his life in Hollywood. Clearly, rocketry and aeronautics were not his areas of expertise. Did he really not recognize his ignorance in these areas when he made his comments? I hadn't appreciated the fact that he himself in some ways was a victim, much earlier, of the same closed minded attitudes by "experts." I do think it is hilarious that one of the first books about him, published in 1930, was entitled Conqueror of Space ...radio waves, not rockets. In one of his many dealings with apparently unscrupulous characters, he was part of a company that sold stock to obtain funding for the development of radio in the early 1900's. A court action was brought for fraud. The district attorney noted in the court proceedings that "Deforest has said in many newspapers and over his signature that it would be possible to transmit the human voice across the Atlantic before many years. Based on these absurd MUFON UFO Journal

and deliberately misleading statements, the misguided public... has been persuaded to purchase stock in his company." Deforest was acquitted, but the judge advised him "to get a common variety of job and stick to it." Deforest had hoped to win a Nobel Prize in physics, but had many enemies (he was married four times and was involved in many lawsuits), and did not. Guglielmo Marconi was also a pioneer in the development of long distance radio communication (really wireless telegraphy at the beginning) around the turn of the 20th century. However, he did win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1907. During a recent trip to Newfoundland, my wife and I visited the facility at Signal Hill in St. Johns, Newfoundland, in which he received the first transatlantic radio signal. The signal, basically Morse code, had been sent, without wires, from Cornwall in England. Impossible across the ocean? The kicker here was that a number of physicists had said it would be impossible to send a radio signal (wireless telegraphy) across the ocean because everybody knows that radio waves travel in straight lines, and the curvature of the earth would make it impossible to cross the ocean with radio signals. Sounds reasonable at first blush, even though earlier tests had been conducted over shorter distances that still should have been blocked because of the earth's curvature, but were not. It wasn't until 23 years later that the electrically conducting and radio wave reflecting Ionosphere was discovered. But as we know from so many examples in ufology, "Absence of evidence does not mean evidence of absence." Even after the receipt of that first signal on Dec. 12,1901, there were those in Newfoundland who didn't want Marconi to set up business there. There were strong commercial interests who didn't want wireless transmisDECEMBER 2004

sion to be pursued, because it would hurt the business of those with telegraph lines, never mind the many seagoing vessels that later received assistance when unexpected events occurred because they were able to send distress signals with the new wireless devices. Underwater cables had been laid at great expense to take signals across the ocean. I suspect there is a parallel here with the SETI Specialists who want desperately to listen for electromagnetic signals from space to discover extraterrestrial civilizations. They are totally unwilling to pay attention to the enormous amount of evidence indicating that aliens are visiting "in person." If aliens are visiting, who needs SETI?

Another victim not so lucky Marconi won his battles, but another innovator who had the courage to pursue his findings, Ignatz Semmelweiss (1818-1865), did not win. As a young doctor in Budapest, Hungary, he had noticed that the infant mortality in the baby delivery wards seemed much higher (10% in those cases where young residents rushed from doing dissections to the-delivery rooms) than in the wards served by midwives (3%). He noticed that the residents wiped their hands on their aprons. He checked statistics over a period of time, comparing the deliveries done in certain rows of the room with those in others. He found a surprisingly great difference. He reasoned that it was something on the hands of the rushing doctors, so he set up the practice of washing hands with a strong soap solution, and found a noticeable drop in infection and death rates. However, he had strong enemies who thought his ideas were absurd, and who put tremendous pressure on the hospital to push him out of the system despite the facts. Obviously they "knew" there was no way anything (visible) could be transmitted from the corpses to the delivery room. He actually wound up in an insane asylum. He died there of an infection in an open wound that had been exposed to the same; biological agents (Streptococcus pyogenes) that had caused the fatal infections (puerperal fever) in the delivery room. DECEMBER 2004

His practices had saved many lives, but that wasn't good enough for his jealous colleagues.

Flying is impossible?

World War n, who thought the idea that anyone would spend five million dollars to break their enigma (code) machine was inconceivable-too radical. They refused to accept the reality of the compromise of enigma even when they were presented with solid evidence to the contrary. There are many other examples of resistance to the new, the different. We should be learning from the past to avoid making similar mistakes in the future. A good source of fascinating examples of the will not to believe, no matter the facts, is the Library of Congress Legislative Reference Service 48-page booklet, "Erroneous Predictions and Negative Comments Concerning Exploration, Territorial Expansion, Scientific and Technological Developments," CB 150, by Nancy T. Gamarra, May 29,1969. An updated version would be much longer, [email protected] -

Back to flight again, I am reminded of the immortal words of one of the greatest American astronomers in the 19th Century, Dr. Simon Newcomb. In October, 1903, he made this profound comment: "The demonstration that no possible combination of known substances, known forces of machinery, and known forms of force can be united in a practical machine by which man shall fly long distances through the air seems to this writer as complete as it is possible for the demonstration of any physical fact to be." Of course there was nothing in his training and experience which would indicate that he knew anything at all about flight. The Wright Brothers demonstrated with their first flight in December, 1903, after many hundreds of wind tunnel and other tests, that flight was indeed possible. Charles Lindbergh, who certainly had been an aviation pioneer himself, told Harry Gugenheim (of the Gugenheim Foundation which had supported research by rocket pioneer Robert Goddard) in May, 1936, "I would much prefer to have Goddard interested in real scientific development than to have him primarily interested in more speculative achievements which are of less real value." . Researcher and author Kevin Randle Another real expert who stuck his foot has returned from active duty in Iraq, in his mouth, according to President and is again a member of the Iowa Army Harry Truman in his 1955 memoirs, was National Guard. He was recently proAdmiral William Leahy, who, speaking moted to major. of the atomic Bomb development project Randle reports, "I have been taking it in 1945, said, "That is the biggest fool easy for the last few weeks, and have thing we have ever done... the bomb will yet to move back into the UFO arena, never go off, and I speak as an expert in though I occasionally brush by it. explosives." . "For those interested, Jesse Marcel, Obviously, his nuclear knowledge Jr. was recalled to active duty, and now would have been almost nonexistent. finds himself in Iraq. This is a stealth draft that has gotten little media attention. Errors by governments "He is stationed inside the Sunni TriA number of governments have made serious errors with regards to the devel- angle, but not very close to the cities that opment of techniques-and these errors you've seen on the news. "For the Marcels, we see the father changed the course of history during in the Pacific during World War II, and major wars; One of many such false conclusions Jesse Jr. around Vietnam and now in was reached by the Germans during Iraq."

Kevin Handle back; Jesse Marcel called to active duty

MUFON UFO JOURNAL

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Fo^the holidays

What really matters Editor's Note: Many of us felt we had read something very touching and unusual when we recently viewed the following on Whitley Strieber's website. This author of Communion and other books reminds us of the importance of our closest relationships. Perhaps this is especially appropriate during the holiday season when we tend to place too much emphasis on material things.

her situation that my heart is humbled to see it. She cannot speak because of all the tubes, but today when I walked into the ICU, she flashed me the A-Ok sign. When I bent down to her, she raised her hand and gently stroked my head, smiling as best she could from behind her mouthful of breathing machinery. We had gotten to the Whitley Strie her time in our

privilege that would bring a whole new kind of joy to my marriage. But what will Annie have to go through if she comes out of this diminished, and is conscious of it? How will she bear that suffering? More than anything, I do not want this person who has been the object of my devotion for so long to experience a single moment of suffering, let alone a lifetime of it. But it may happen that way. It's not the most likely outcome, and neither is Saturday, Oct. 18, was the most terdying, but both are possible and there is rible day my wife and I have ever known. absolutely no way to tell what is to come. It started out as a lovely and very norOf course, that's always true in life, mal day. We went to a movie, then but at a time like this, our normal state watched a baseball game with our son. of unknowing becomes a truly ferocious At about nine, we went home. torture. On the way, Anne suddenly said, "I One comes to a question: what do I have so many wonderful memories of m a r r i a g e have to fall back on? What strength have my marriage." when just being together is a quiet de- I to bring to this? How can I help my I was rather surprised-not that she light. As you get older, every moment wife? What now does it mean "to love, had good memories of what has been a begins to seem precious. It's why you honor and cherish?" wonderful marriage for both of us, but see old couples who are deeply in love At a time of extraordinary suffering because she said it. She's a here and being so tender to each other. and fear like this, when she needs anynow person, not given to retrospection. We know that part of the vow, "till thing she can get, what I want to give is I said that I was so glad to hear it, and I death do us part," has a most precious everything I have to give. And yet, it's felt just the same. resonance, that has to do with the eter- not going to be enough. Nothing I can We arrived home, and she went into nity of love and the sacredness of life's do can make her well. I can cast a little the bathroom. As I was entering the journey. water on a raging fire, but I cannot put it house, I heard her say, "Whitley, I need I know that Annie has found peace in out. your help." Her tone sounded as if she herself. I can see it in the beauty of her I sing to her a little song that we used wanted me to lift something or perhaps smile, feel it when her hand squeezes to sing, hand in hand, walking together reach something for her on a shelf. mine, see it in the many ways she ex- through the streets of New York, when But then I saw that she was buckling presses her sense of humor. We are both we were young: "The river is wide, I at the knees, and in an instant, thirty-five facing an unknown that we desperately can't cross over, nor have I the wings to years of pure bliss turned into a night of want to come into focus: what will hap- fly; build me a boat that will carry two, absolute terror and suffering for both of pen to her; what will become of our life and both shall go, my love and I." The river did not really seem so wide, us. together? It is now three weeks since that night, But those questions cannot be an- then, not like it does now, a great darkand we are still in the dark of the woods, swered now, not by the doctors or by ness flowing, the stringent torrent of time still wondering if the shadows are going anybody. They must remain unfocused, and chance, its far shore glimmering with as Annie's body either regains its health things unknown. to catch us. I have, from deep childhood, two As I write this, Anne is suffering from or does not, and she either comes back pneumonia and is in and out of conscious- fully or in some other state, or it turns words I learned at my mother's knee: trust grace. "Whitley," I hear her sayness. There is so much that I don't know out that this is when she travels on. For a long time, I have felt the most ing, "trust grace." Not trust grace to about what will come next. Even the acute agony in the face of these tormentmake my wife whole again, or trust grace doctors cannot tell me what to expect. ing but unanswerable questions. I don't to give us a miracle, or trust grace for But when my girl is awake, she's remind if I am to be caregi ver for my wife. any hoped-for outcome. Simply trust ally awake, and that bright soul is dancing so easily in her pain and the terror of To me, that would be a gift from God, a grace.

The unexpected

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MUFON UFO Journal

DECEMBER 2004

And that is, I am finding, enough. We are here in this world to experience time and chance. It's not up to God to make our lives turn out one way or another. When bad things happen, it's not God's fault. It's not anybody's fault, in fact. Surprise is essential to the perfection of souls. Without it, we cannot be free enough to choose between sin and sanctity. It's the price we pay to be here, and I find that I'm glad for it. I do trust grace. I am surrendered to what may come. And so is my beloved. I can see it in the radiance of the smile that comes from behind the tubes. She knows what has happened to her. She knows her situation and the unsureness of her future. And her response is that smile, and I know why: somebody did build us a boat, and she's in it. Come what may, she has grace. I have joined her, finally, after these weeks of deepest anguish. Wherever our boat takes us is where we go. If we must part, then I will carry within me the joy of our marriage, and she will carry it to God. If she stays, then it will be, yet again, a new marriage, made of days so precious that I can barely imagine what they will be like. How will it be to embrace her, whole again, after this? To walk again in the evening, quietly discussing our day, then . to share our bed in the breezy night, to awaken again beside her, and see in her eyes the sparkle of life? I can only say this, that great suffering is an alchemy, and the secret of the philosopher's stone is that love is gold. Our whole Me together is, at this moment, compressed within me into a single, shining moment. I recall as if it was just a moment ago, our first meeting. We were both entirely alone in New York, and had filled out the forms of a computer dating service. . A primitive one, to be sure. I was a young advertising executive. We got each other's names on a list. I phoned one or two of them, but had no luck. I was pretty low on the totem pole when it came to prospects-not a pilot, a doctor, a lawyer, just a kid crunching numbers in a windowless office and living in a run down apartment on the DECEMBER 2004

dreary end of a dreary street. She was a receptionist. I recall, as I walked into the office where she worked, I saw this extraordinary woman sitting there. She had huge, glorious eyes. She was stunning to me. And I thought, "hell, why can't that be her?" I said to her, "I'd like to see Miss Mattocks, please." She smiled and said, "I'm Anne." The most amazing sensation went through my body, a shock as if of some wonderful electricity and I thought, "oh please like me." Until October 18, we had not been more than two weeks apart, and only once for that long, not in thirty-five years. Of course our marriage has had its ups and downs. We've fought, but fights are part of good marriages. A marriage is a struggle, basically, to learn to really trust another person even though that person is flawed. The only way you can do it is to give all that you have and not keep score. That is Annie's way, and mine, too. She gives all she has to this marriage. I do the same. And now what we have is this great struggle. When she smiles up from her bed at me, I remember my mother's words: trust grace. Don't keep score, that's not man's place. Just trust grace and, whether things are good are bad in your eyes, you will belong to God's goodness. When I was five, mother began reading the Bible to us. Not a person to do things by halves, she read every word of it from Genesis to Revelation, for half an hour a night every night until just before my eighth birthday, when she read, "even so, comes Lord Jesus," the last words of Revelation. Then she closed the book and announced, "and that is the word of God." That word has been inside me ever since, as if it is somehow engraved upon my soul, and at such a time as this, I am so grateful for those Bible nights. Like my mother, my wife takes a great interest in the Bible. She has her own ideas about everything, but she trusts it deeply, and knows it well, and when it comes time, at the end of another hospital day, for our family to pray together, her smile returns as I lay one hand on her forehead and hold my son's hand MUFON UFO JOURNAL

with the other, and ask God to receive our suffering. And then, in the late night. I awaken, the shadows all around me, and think on this life, how each generation passes into memory, as we must, and Annie and I must, and I sense the presence of the kingdom, and am drawn closer to it as if on a great, sighing wave of surrender. Then I sleep again, and perhaps drift along the paths of the night to where my beloved lies in her hurting sleep, and kiss her with the secret kiss that souls share naked in the night. And so it goes, two lovers in our little boat, sailing the storm, our song barely there but there, an echo in the wind.

I've Got My Girl Back! Saturday Nov. 13,2004 Yesterday, Anne woke up. I mean this in a profound way, new for me, that is unlike anything I have ever seen before. Well, not quite: I remember a few years ago when my sister woke up like this. One moment, the eyes are there, but they are just eyes. The next, something glistens from within, and you see it: the soul has returned to the surface of life, called back from where it stood, waiting for the body to either embrace it again or let it go. Anne's body has embraced her soul again, and I, also, have been included in that embrace. I was the shadowy form who was always there, singing my song of hope and longing: I love you, you're my precious, come back to me. And so she did, travelling along the strange byways of illness and the edge of death-I see her moving lightly, touched by the wonder before her, and yet unable-quite-to ignore that voice from the past, calling and calling from the world of the living and the heart of a very deep love affair. So she came back. Yesterday, she was confused, sometimes quiet, sometimes talking too much. But, by the end of the day, I could see her soul again, looking out at me with the perfect truth that this ordeal has taught me resides in

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every living eye. When she fell down, the first thing I noticed was that a kind of absence came into her eyes. I thought it was death, it looked so cold, so empty. But there it was, in eyes so dear to me that they matter more than my own eyes, the blank abyss. Then, just five days later, all seemed well. She was awake, with no signs of fever or sickness or the horrific side effect of brain bleeds, vasospasm, that constricting of blood vessels that removes all trace of consciousness, leaving the victim in a coma-like thrall that, to the lover at the bedside, seems woven of hell's own eternities. She sank away then, before my eyes, the abyss coming again while my heart broke and broke. But even at the worst moments, she still had two things: her smile and the grip of her hand. When I told her how much I loved her, how dear she was to me, that smile would rise up out of the darkness and shine forth, soft sometimes, but always there. And her hand would tighten in mine, and my prayers would sing on, wind in the wires of death. So it went, long days and longer nights, as we skated along the farthest edges, me and my stricken dreamer. But then, on Wednesday, things changed, and this time in a fundamental way. The doctors figured out the puzzle of her fever and broke it with a smart new antibiotic. And my girl came back. She turned around in the tide that was carrying her into memory and began to swim, and then she came up through the froth and onto the beach, where she is now, still weighted from her ordeal in the sucking ocean, but most definitely back. You do not walk away from a catastrophe like this, any more than you walk away from being shot through the head. No, you struggle back by inches, through the confusion of your shattered mind, back to the surface of the world. Anne is doing that now, talking and talking, exploring herself and her past and all the hidden meanings, the things dropped in the crannies of her mind, the bits of debris that make up a person's reality. This has its funny side. For example, her nurse said to me, "Earlier your wife was, uh, talking about-ah-UFOs and

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aliens and we're-well-a little concerned. that something has gone terribly wrong, She said she was, well, an expert..." that perhaps it will not come right, that I said, "She actually IS an expert on one's very essence has been thrown into that subject. In fact, she's one of the free fall. leading experts in the world." He looked So I said this, "Your mind was like a at me. "Oh," he said, "that, ah, that ex- pond that you used to swim in, a little plains it." Then he added, "She says she fish who knew every nook and cranny talks about them on some sort of...web of that pond, where everything was hidradio." den and where all the secrets were kept. So I said, "She does. She has an "Suddenly, somebody threw a rock internet radio program and she does talk into the pond. And the water got clouded about UFOs and aliens on it. Quite a lot, with silt, and you ended up swimming actually." blind. "Oh," he said, "oh, good. Ah, this one "But it won't stay like this. The silt does have us concerned. She said that will settle back to the bottom of the pond. George Washington stayed at your And things will come clear again." house." At that moment, my sister fell asleep From the bed came her voice, still and slept for 24 hours, and then began hoarse from her intubation: "Robert E. to reconstruct herself. My wife listened, Lee." then looked at me for a long time. She The nurse nodded solemnly. "Robert said, "That's exactly the metaphor I was E. Lee," he said. reaching for and couldn't find." And she I said, "Actually, Robert E. Lee did grew quiet, calmly reflective for the first stay at my great grandmother's house. time since she'd awakened. Before the Civil War." She's stopped running from the fear He looked over at Anne. She smiled. that her mind has been ruined. Now she's Quiet triumph. I could see it in her eyes: ready for the next step, putting the pieces see, I only SEEM confused. of the golden puzzle of self back together But that isn' t entirely true, for she does again. have a level of confusion. It's less every And there's this guy beside her, reday, though, and it is awesome to see joicing now that all the medical effort and her ranging around through her memo- all the prayers and all the healings have ries, her thoughts, her ideas, reweaving gotten us to this place: the place where the fractured universe of her inner self. only the highest tide of the ocean of She talks and talks and talks, and I oblivion can reach. listen to the flood of memories, of ideas, Here we stand, as always, hand in to the great themes of freedom and cul- hand, in the privacy and universality of tural richness and the value of women our suffering, praying that the danger is that keep recurring, that are connected truly passed, and that tomorrow will be with Anne's very essence, and the abid- better than today. ing compassion that drives it all, revealed I know that it will. I can feel it in her plain by the intensity of her struggle. grip on my hand, can hear it in her voice, Lying there, helpless, her mind swim- see it in those limitless eyes: I' ve got my ming in a suddenly murky sea, my wife's girl back. essence is proclaiming itself, telling itAmen! self: remember who you are. I said to her something that I said to my sister, that was deeply healing then and will be deeply healing now. My sister had no insurance, with the result that we were not able to afford lavish rehabilitation. So I gave her rehab, the same way I am giving it to my Case reports wife. Although, because we are insured, Investigators. Please send a she will also have more of the profescopy of your case reports directly sional kind. to the MUFON UFO Journal. I theorized that a big part of the struggle after a stroke involves fear-fear MUFON UFO lournal

DECEMBER 2004

Local priest an extraterrestrial?

Michigan man a go-between? Michigan MUFON's chief investigator, Dan Wright, recently presented an account of a 1967 UFO encounter that occurred in Albion, MI. Although the case was not brought to Wright's attention until May of 1982, the details surrounding the event appeared to be indelibly etched in the minds of the witnesses involved. Although details of the case are far too involved to relate in this article, a brief overview is in order. (Dan plans to write a book on the case.) In late August of 1967 an Albion butcher, Charles William "Bill" Smith, age 35 at the time, was driving his pickup down a deserted road near his home when the engine suddenly stalled. He looked up through the top of the windshield to see a large domed saucer hovering over the vehicle. Telepathically, Smith is told to contact his priest, Father Gerald Boyer, and convey the message of their presence. The ship then departed and Bill continued home. Only minutes after this incident, from their front yard. Bill and his wife, Marge, observed a pair of 15-foot red-orange balls of fire over a barn 250 feet away. The fireballs approached the Smith home and moved slowly and silently over the roof, then continued to a point above a swampy woods 300 yards away. They then descended and simply "winked out." On Nov. 24,1967, Smith and his wife watched the sky as a one-foot red-orange fireball hovered over the roof of their home. Momentarily, it moved away laterally and accelerated out of sight. Smith finally broke down and told his priest about the sightings and telepathic communication that he was instructed to convey. Father Boyer not only believed him, but claimed to be one of the extraterrestrials incarnate in human form! Father Boyer was more than happy to accompany Smith to his home to watch for a

DECEMBER 2004

return visit. They were not disappointed. On March 14,1968, Smith, his-wife, Father Boyer, and eight other witnesses (four of whom were nuns) watched in amazement as three fireballs approached them. The four nuns fled the scene in terror. On May 7,1968, Smith, Father Boyer, and a third witness observed a very large bulbous cyUnder in the sky, glowing amber and ejecting numerous auto-sized discs that were also glowing amber. That same evening, Smith witnessed the landing of one of the ejected discs. Several 4 1/2-foot beings, clad in silver suits, descended a ramp and once again telepathically communicated with him. They attempted to convince him to "go for a ride." Smith was apprehensive, to say the least, and refused to go with them. They obviously respected his decision, but told him that he will receive subsequent messages that he is to pass along to Father Boyer. Smith also claimed that a helicopter crew landed in his field around that time. When he went out to ask them what they were doing, he was told to "get out." Shortly thereafter, a plain-clothed gentleman who identified himself as "Maj. Holmes" came to his door asking questions about the encounters. After the helicopter incident, Smith was unwilling to talk to or trust anyone connected with the government. Maj. Holmes' inquiry was rebuffed. During an 18-month period in 1967/ 1968, dozens of neighbors, friends, relatives, and other visitors observed regular intrusions of glowing spheres over the Smith property. Mrs. Smith s daily diary offers compelling testimony to further support the family's account. Wright says this is his best-ever "cold case" and that it is still open and ongoing. -Thanks to MiMUFON.

MUFON UFO JOURNAL

Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter to send back more detailed photos As Earth pulls away from Mars after the close approach in August, NASA is developing a spacecraft that will take advantage of the next close encounter in 2005. That spacecraft, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, will make a more comprehensive inspection of our planetary neighbor than any previous mission. For starters, it will examine landscape details as small as a coffee table with the most powerful telescopic camera ever sent to orbit a foreign planet. Some of its other tools will scan underground layers for water and ice, identify small patches of surface minerals to determine their composition and origins, track changes in atmospheric water and dust, and check global weather every day. "We're reaching an important stage in developing the spacecraft," said James Graf, project manager for Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The primary structure has been completed." The structure weighs 220 kilograms (484 pounds) and stands 3 meters (about 10 feet) tall. At launch, after gear and fuel are added, it will support over two tons. Also, the mission's avionics test bed has been assembled for the first time and put to use for testing of flight software. Workers at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, will later add instruments being built for it at the University of Arizona; at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory; at the Italian Space Agency; at Malin Space Science Systems; and at JPL. "In several ways, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will advance NASA's follow-the-water strategy for Mars exploration," said Dr. Richard Zurek, project scientist for the mission. Probing below Mars' surface with penetrating radar, Reconnaissance Orbiter will check the depth of the frozen water previously detected.

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CALENDAR

March 6-12-International UFO Congress Convention and Film Festival, Laughlin, NV. wwwiufocon-gress.com. April 1-3-Aztec UFO Symposium, Aztec, NM. [email protected], www.aztecufo.com, 877-823-5810. April 8-10-17th annual Ozark UFO Conference, Eureka Springs, AR. Lou Parish, [email protected], 501-3542558. July 22-24-36th annual MUFON UFO Symposium, Marriott Tech Center Hotel, Denver, CO. 303-932-7709, www.mufon.com.

Ozark UFO Symposium to celebrate 17th year Lou Parish's popular Ozark UFO Symposium in the resort city of Eureka Springs, AR, will mark its 17th year this coming April 8-10. This conference is somewhat unique in featuring many of the same speakers each year, including Wendelle Stevens, Grant Cameron, Linda Moulton Howe, and Timothy Good. Nancy Talbott, who is becoming one of the "regulars," is not yet confirmed for 2005. On the "new" list is David Marler, MUFON State Director for Illinois, and possibly Scott Ramsey, who has researched the Aztec crash site. Other speakers will be announced later. Parish says he is considering eliminating the speakers' panel so that he can include one more speaker. He also notes that he will have to increase the cost a bit this year to $45 advance, and $50.at the door. Accommodations and meals are available at moderate prices at the popular Inn of the Ozarks, where the symposium is held, as well as at numerous other nearby motels and eating places (the tourist season has not yet begun in April, but the weather is great).

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Director's Message (Continued from page 2)

efit the whole UFO community, educational institutions, historical archives, authors, and researchers. However, none of these projects can be accomplished without significant funding. Since MUFON is a non-profit corporation, we are seeking tax-deductible donations earmarked at completing these projects as early as possible. Past UFO organizations collected file cabinets full of UFO reports that were accessible to only a few people, and when the organizations were shut down the files were dispersed, and many of them lost to the public. The MUFON Business Board wants to prevent this from happening to the MUFON files by making them available in electronic form. Dubbed The Pandora Project, the goal is to scan all of the UFO reports going back to 1969 when MUFON was formed and produce CD-ROMs that are keyword searchable. Professional scanning company bids are all in the $35,000 range for this project. In addition to UFO reports, the MUFON files contain hundreds of reports of Bigfoot, crop circles, anomalies, special reports, studies, and news clippings. The second phase of The Pandora Project is to scan all of these files and make them available on CD-ROMs. The estimated cost for this phase is $25,000. MUFON has been providing a monthly magazine since the organization began. Called Sky look & first, and then The MUFON UFO Journal, the magazine back copies exist only in a paper format. The goal is to convert the past issues to electronic format and make them available on CD-ROM. The fourth scanning project involves scanning all of the 35 years of the annual MUFON Symposium Proceedings, and making them available on CDROM. MUFON has a history covering nearly every facet of the UFO mystery. It is our intent to make this available to all seekers, regardless of their affiliation. MUFON members are urged to seek out special donors capable of making these MUFON UFO Journal

projects a reality as soon as possible. Position Announcements Ike Bishop has stepped down as State Director for Idaho. Replacing Ike as State Director is Robert S. Gates of Idaho Falls, ID. We thank Ike and Robert for this smooth transition. Alan Gudaitis, State Director for Nevada, and Sandy Lepore Gudaitis, Assistant State Director for Nevada, have retired from their positions after many years of dedicated service. They held regular meetings in their home, investigated many UFO cases, and carried the banner high for UFO research. We thank them for their hard work and we will miss them as the MUFON leaders for Nevada. Bill Jones, State Director for Ohio, has appointed Angle Hamilton of Ashland, OH, to the position of State Section Director. Bruce Widaman, State Director for Missouri, has appointed Tom Ferrario of Hermann, MO, as Assistant State Director for Missouri. William Weeks, State Director for Alabama, has appointed Monroe Slocumb as State Section Director for Madison County. New Field Investigators Kathleen Marden, Director of Field Investigator Training, has announced that Ralph Barrera of Hollywood, PL; Mary Jane Hulsey of Twin Falls, ID; and Randy James Van Landingham of Englewood, CO, have successfully passed the MUFON Field Investigator's Exam and are now MUFON Field Investigators. New Lifetime Members MUFON has three new lifetime members. It is a pleasure to announce that Yvonne Bryant of Mesa, AZ, Kathy Schuessler of Littleton, CO, and Carman E. Wiese of Del Rio, TX, are now MUFON lifetime members. We are extremely grateful for this vote of confidence and level of support for MUFON. Our thanks to you Yvonne, Kathy, and Carman. DECEMBER 2004

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MUFON UFO JOURNAL

23

By Gavin A. J. McLeod

January 2005 Moon Phases Last Quarter January 3 New Moon January 10 First Quarter January 17 Full Moon January 25 Bright Planets (Evening Sky) Saturn (magnitude -0.3): In Gemini. Saturn rises in the east-northeast at sunset and sets in the west-northwest as the Sun rises. Bright Planets (Morning Sky) Mercury (magnitude -0.3): Moving from Ophiuchus to Sagittarius. Mercury remains visible during morning twilight low in the southeast u n t i l about midmonth. For Southern hemisphere observers, Mercury is visible low in the east-southeast sky all month. Venus (-3.8): Moving from Ophiuchus to Sagittarius. Venus is very Planetary Conjunction: Just before dawn On Jan. 7,2005, the Moon, Merlow in the southeast during morning twi- cury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter will present a spectacular site in the predawn sky. light. By month's end it becomes lost in Planetary conjunctions, especially when the brighter planets and/or stars are the glare of the Sun. involved, can be a source of sightings reports as observers unfamiliar with the night For southern hemisphere observers sky notice the grouping of bright lights in the sky. Venus is low in the east-southeast durConjunctions and Occultations ing morning twilight. Jan. 3: Jupiter 0.4 degrees north of the Moon. Mars(1.6to 1.5): Moving from ScorJan. 31: Jupiter 0.9 degrees north of the Moon. pius to Ophiuchus. Mars rises less than 3 hours before the Sun in the east-southWhere To Look: East of Polaris (the east and is very low in the southeast at north star) and below Ursa Major (the the beginning of morning twilight. big dipper). Southern hemisphere observers will find Mars rising about 3 hours before the Sun in the east-southeast and about 20 degrees high in the east-southeast after Actor Nicolas Cage the beginning of morning twilight. Jupiter (-2.0 to -2.1): In Virgo. Jupi- fascinated by the Yeti ter rises in the east near midnight and Movie actor Nicolas Cage is on the rises to about 40 degrees above the ho- hunt for a mythical red-haired ape man rizon as morning twilight begins. who reportedly lives in the mountains surrounding Tibet." Meteor Showers: Quadrantids The actor, whose new film National Dates: From Jan. 1 to Jan. 5, peak- Treasure premiered Nov. 19, boasts he ing on Jan. 3. The last quarter Moon will is "fascinated by modern myths" and, not interfere with viewing the meteor having seen films about the Yeti, "wants shower just after midnight to 1 AM. to meet the beast." Predicted Rate: 45 and 200 faint The Yeti, sometimes called "the meteors per hour. Abominable Snowman," lives on the glaciers of the high Himalayas. 24

MUFON UFO Journal

DECEMBER 2004